FAQs

For those companies that generate a high volume of recyclable waste materials, an on-site baler is an option worth careful consideration. Balers press together recyclables such as paper, cardboard, plastic or aluminium to form small, compact bundles that are easily disposed of. A bale’s dimensions are dependent on the model, type and size of recycling baler machine used.

The purpose of a compactor is to reduce the volume of mixed waste by crushing it into smaller pieces, so it takes up less space. One advantage to businesses of compacting the rubbish they produce is to save money because they need fewer collections. Another is it helps to keep their property looking neat and tidy.

A mobile, or portable, compactor is usually smaller and can be lifted onto a lorry once full.

You can move it from one spot to another, providing flexibility if you need the space for something else. A larger, static compactor is most often bolted to a hard surface and is loaded by hand, or using a wheelie bin. An attached skip receives the waste after compaction. Once full, we swap it for an empty one.

Following a comprehensive audit, Fresh Start can propose a tailored agreement that includes leasing a waste compactor for use at your commercial premises. We will recommend a portable or static option, depending on your company’s precise requirements, that fulfils our promise to always provide a solution that is efficient, affordable, and demonstrates our green credentials.

Collaborating with a professional waste management services provider like Fresh Start will help you make a decision that is the right one for your circumstances. That’s why we offer to conduct a full audit first. As part of that process, we carefully analyse your company’s waste streams before proposing a bespoke solution.

While compactors crush almost all unsorted general waste into bins that are removed and taken to landfill or an energy-from-waste plant, they are an optimal choice for businesses that produce a high-volume material that isn’t recyclable.

A recycling baler could be the most sensible option if your business disposes of a sizeable amount of recyclables, such as paper, cardboard, or aluminium. Fresh Start can supply a single-chamber unit or a twin, which can bale a range of materials simultaneously. Both produce small, compact blocks that stacked neatly before collection for recycling. At a high enough volume, you can sell bales to generate revenue.

Think about the space taken up by waste materials or rubbish that hasn’t been baled. One of the biggest benefits of an on-site recycling baler is to make more efficient use of the space you have. The machine itself is available in different sizes to suit your needs, while its bales are stackable. Because they are easy to transport, the process runs more smoothly. Not only that, but compacted waste also creates a tidier, less hazardous environment to work in.

While the materials pressed by a waste compactor might differ from a baler, the benefits of having one to hand are similar. Most often used by companies that produce a high volume of general waste, they free up space that would otherwise be taken up by bulky, or awkwardly-shaped, unwanted items.

As well as making it easier for waste to be collected and then transported elsewhere, creating room at any business location is a good thing. Compacting waste on-site also means you’ll require fewer collections, contributing to reduced costs.

The term ‘bulky waste’ refers to items that are too big to fit inside a general rubbish bin, or too cumbersome for households or businesses to take to a recycling centre.

Many local authorities offer a separate collection service for bulky household items. Some will charge to pick up those objects.

Fresh Start’s selection of waste containers, which includes a range of skips and roll-on roll-off units with different capacities, is certain to include an option that meets your company’s needs.

Fresh Start provides a skip hire service for either your home or business premises.

We take enormous pride in our green credentials, and we will sort through the items you put in there and reuse or recycle as much as possible.

If you are unsure what you can, or cannot, place in a skip then please don’t hesitate to ask.
Some of the most common items that are allowed include:

• Wood
• Soil
• Rubble
• Polystyrene
• Plastic
• Metal
• Garden waste (e.g. leaves, or clippings)
• Furniture
• Food and food packaging
• Fittings (non-electrical)
• Empty tins
• Domestic waste
• Cardboard
• Bricks

This is one of our most common skips FAQs. You should not put hazardous or potentially harmful items in a skip.
A list of examples includes, but isn’t limited to:

• Gas cylinders
• Asbestos
• Animal waste
• Large electrical items
• Batteries
• Paint and glue
• Oil of any kind
• Medical waste
• Tyres

What happens to the waste we put in a skip?

Fresh Start’s disposal service fully complies with all the relevant regulations.

We provide a waste transfer note for all handovers of non-hazardous material between two parties, to prove that you have opted to hire a specialist waste disposal company.

We strive to embody our green credentials at every opportunity, and we will sort through the items you put in a skip and reuse or recycle as much as possible.

By law, every business has a duty to ensure the safe handling of its waste. The UK’s waste regulations insist that you must store different types of commercial waste separately so they do not contaminate each other, making the recycling process much simpler.

Since founding Fresh Start, we have focused on segregation at source – way ahead of changes in the law.

With coloured bins of various sizes, we make it easy for companies to separate recyclable rubbish. Effective separation of waste means less going to landfill, which is better for the environment. Waste that is segregated into steams is also cheaper to collect and dispose of because it doesn’t need to be sorted like mixed waste.

Any of the following can go in your DMR bin, but they must be clean and dry. So, you must rinse plastic milk bottles first, for instance.

• Cardboard
• Food tins and drink cans
• Paper, including magazines and newspapers
• Some plastics; including bottles, microwave meal trays, and packaging film

Correct use of your Dry Mixed Recycling bins can cut down on your Landfill Tax bills and reduce your company’s environmental impact.

Cardboard! This includes everything from Amazon packaging to egg cartons and takeaway pizza boxes. However, please ensure that all cardboard that has been in contact with food is free from any grease contamination. Even the lid of a pizza box is better than nothing.

No. We remove all staples during the recycling process, so there’s no need for you to take them out of magazines or newspapers.

Ideally, yes.

While it’s possible to remove parcel tape at our end, it’s done by machine and results in a lower quality of recycled cardboard. We know that it’s difficult to remove every last piece of tape, especially on well-wrapped packages, so don’t worry if you can’t clear it all.

This depends on the amount and variety of waste you create.

While most workplaces will need a food waste bin, an office is unlikely to need one the same size as a busy restaurant. This is where our waste management strategy comes in. We cater to each client’s requirements, and will draw up a bespoke plan just for you.

Our business waste bins range in size from 240 litres – similar to a typical household wheelie bin – right up to lockable 1,100 litre containers.

However, we also provide much larger front-end loaders, skips, high-volume food containers, and Ro-Ro vessels up to 40 cubic metres.

On top of this, we also have compacters and balers for larger waste producers.

As obvious as it sounds, this depends on the type of bin. They range from regular-sized wheelie bins to much larger rollable unit.

It’s part of our job to make sure you receive the right bins for the space available.

Trade waste is any refuse generated from a business premises. Whether that’s in manufacturing, retail, entertainment, construction, etc., the industry classifies it as trade waste.

Business waste is just another name for trade waste. We use the terms interchangeably.

No matter the size of your retail operation, there are common challenges with managing waste.

Many retailers end up with mixed lots of waste, although most must at least dispose of packaging for their products. Some examples of the type of waste include:

• Boxes, wood and pallets
• Plastic
• Cardboard and paper
• General
• E-waste

Fresh Start’s bespoke waste management solutions extend to the building industry. We know it is impossible to complete a construction assignment without producing waste, but with landfill capacity dwindling, it is vital to recover and reuse as much as possible.

Our range of containers does exactly that.

We provide skips that are perfect for bulky items or high volumes, such as bricks, wood or other construction materials. However, larger projects should consider one of our roll-on, roll-off containers for light construction waste. Please note they are not suitable though for bricks or rubble.

There is plenty that can be recycled at a construction or demolition site too, including:

• Cardboard and paper
• Glass
• Metal
• Some plastics
• Wood

Disposing of waste from the manufacturing industry is not always straightforward because of some of the materials used. Often, they are mixed to make a single product, making it more of a challenge.

That is why Fresh Start carries out a comprehensive waste audit before starting work.

It helps us to identify the type and volume of waste materials that your business generates, before we can propose an appropriate solution. That will include a collection schedule and the ideal storage containers.

What is never far from our thoughts is how we can encourage you to recycle more.

Educating young minds about the importance of recycling and protecting the natural environment is crucial if the planet is to enjoy a greener future. Fresh Start has established itself as the waste collection service provider of choice for nurseries, schools, colleges and universities across the region.

Paper is the dominant form of waste created by schools, making up at least a quarter of all its rubbish. An effective collection scheme, which every student and teacher can contribute to, will reduce the amount of waste generated.

Metal recycling schemes are worth implementing in schools with vending machines, particularly those that sell aluminium drinks cans.

Whether you run a country pub or a busy city centre bar, you’ll need a simple system for glass recycling.

Fresh Start makes it easy with a tailored glass collection service and designated glass bins. We know how much additional weight glass can add to your general waste collections, so segregating bottles and other glass into a dedicated wheelie bin will help you monitor and manage costs effectively.

Because glass is infinitely recyclable, we have established relationships with partners in the licensing trade to divert as much of it as we can from landfill. Of course, there are other types of waste generated by bars, pubs, and clubs.

They include:

• Food waste
• Cardboard
• Plastic
• Washroom waste

Food recycling is as simple as putting your scraps in the right bin, whether they are raw or cooked. We do the rest.

Fresh Start provides branded external food containers, from wheelie bins to high-volume roll-on, roll-off vessels, and collects them according to a schedule that best meets your needs. We can also deliver on-site training to help you and your staff separate food waste effectively.

We guarantee to divert every last bit of it away from landfill and into an anaerobic digestion process at one of our partners’ facilities. Once there, they converted it into clean, renewable energy.

We also recycle most of the packaging for your ingredients.

Hotels produce a high volume of waste every day. Guests expect a clean and sanitary environment, meaning an effective and comprehensive waste management system is important.

Because of the nature of hospitality, the waste produced by hotels, B&Bs, or hostels is varied. Recyclable materials include:

• E-waste
• Glass bottles and jars
• Food waste
• Paper and cardboard
• Sanitary waste

A dedicated waste management company like Fresh Start can devise a tailored solution that caters to the precise needs of your premises.

If you’re unsure, then please just ask.

After making an enquiry, a member of our team will contact you to arrange a free waste audit that will assess your needs, noting the type of waste your company generates and how much. Using this information, we will draw up a bespoke waste management plan based on the specific requirements of your business.

One of the primary objectives for every partnership we enter is to identify new recycling opportunities, or to increase the proportion of existing waste streams diverted away from landfill.

We make our service as integrated as possible, conscious of managing costs as well as minimising the environmental impact of your waste disposal.

Recycling is when a waste product is converted into a new usable item. This can take many forms, such as old glass being melted down and turned into new bottles.

This is when you reuse an object. It can either be something as simple as buying a reusable water bottle instead of relying on single-use plastic ones. Or you can go down the upcycling route – such as turning an old shoe into a plant pot, or converting a wine bottle into a candleholder.

A waste stream is a single type of waste. For instance, a food bin collects just one stream of waste: food.

‘Commingled’ is the term applied to collecting all waste material together for reprocessing. A verb that means ‘to mix or be mixed’, it has many different spellings throughout the waste sector, including ‘co-mingled’.

Single-sort recycling, or single-stream recycling, is a system in which all paper, plastic and metals are collected at the same time in one load.

This process is common for recycling bins at restaurants and cafes, for example. We sift the rubbish, before later separation at a specialist recycling facility, where the equipment and machinery handles a fully commingled deposit.

Fresh Start has nurtured a reputation as an innovator when it comes to commercial food waste collection in the region.

We have campaigned tirelessly for less food to be sent to landfill, reducing the volume of damaging gases being released into the atmosphere.

We offer a specially designed and clearly branded selection of containers, each with different capacities, to suit your individual business requirements. They are sealed, making them an ideal choice for moving large volumes of food waste material off site to be recycled.

Regular collections from our list of customers, which include manufacturers, kitchens at restaurants, bars and takeaways, supermarkets, and small grocers, ensure we convert a continuous supply of waste into clean, renewable energy as electricity, biofuel, or compost.

At Fresh Start, we’re proud of the green credentials that form the foundation of every service that we provide. Our commitment to minimise the amount of waste diverted to landfill is as resolute as ever, and every site audit we perform identifies recycling opportunities.

The information we gather at that stage helps to design a waste management plan tailored carefully to the demands of your business, meaning no two examples are the same.

However, what doesn’t change is our promise to recommend new and innovative ways of recycling more of the waste your company produces.

Animal by-products (or ABPs) are animal carcasses, parts of animals, or other materials which come from animals but not fit for human consumption.

They can either be destroyed, or be used to make compost, biogas or other products. Fresh Start can transport and store category 3 ABPs – classified as low risk by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) – at its operations and recycling centre in Swinton.

There are several options to dispose of category 3 ABPs, including incineration, sending them to landfill, processing them to make feed for farm animals or to manufacture pet food, processing them into organic fertilisers, or using them in composting or anaerobic digestion.

In short, yes you do.

To reduce the risk of contamination, items placed inside a dry mixed recycling (DMR) bin should be clean. While one of the major advantages of DMR waste disposal is it saves time because you don’t have to separate rubbish, the process will only work efficiently if you remove any leftover food or liquid residues, and the products thoroughly dried before they go in the bin.

Absolutely. Whether food is raw or cooked, or fresh or mouldy, almost all of it 100% recyclable. The only exceptions are oils and liquids, which, while it is possible to recycle them, can cause leakage issue during transport, and need specialist carriers to deal with them.

Depending on the area you live in, recyclers will either compost your food along with garden waste, or – as in Greater Manchester – put it through the anaerobic digestion process. This is when microorganisms help to break down vast quantities of food, with the gasses they produce being collected and converted into electricity and biofuel.

Yes. Usually made from steel, food tins are 100% recyclable, and as with glass, you can recycle them infinitely with no dips in quality. You don’t need to remove any paper labels from the tins, but rinse them out before putting them in your recycling bin.

Huge magnets separate tins from other recyclables, with shredders then slicing them into small chunks. Heated in a furnace to more than 1700°C, the liquid metal cools in a mould, before being resurrected as anything from cutlery to car components.

Yes. As with steel food tins, aluminium drink cans are 100% recyclable. They are also one of the world’s most recycled products, with around three-quarters of cans in the UK being re-processed.

The cans you put into your recycling bin end up at a materials recovery plant, which shreds the aluminium, melts it down, and pours it out into huge ingots. These are then rolled into thin sheets before becoming new cans, foil, takeaway trays, or used in the automotive industry.

The answer here is: it depends.

We recycle many types of plastic these days, including those found in some of the most common household items, such as PET (bottled drinks) and HDPE (carrier bags).

However, even where the technology exists to recycle certain types of plastic – polystyrene and LDPE for instance – it isn’t always economical to do so, while some local councils just don’t have the infrastructure to process each variety.

There are two primary routes for plastics to find their way into the sea. Around half of it comes from boats, including waste from the shipping and fishing industries, and even cruise liners to a lesser degree.

Much of the rest originates onshore. Because so much plastic refuse is lightweight, it blows away easily. Even if the wind doesn’t carry it straight into the ocean, it can float through lakes and rivers. Micro-plastics are even easier to transport via our waterways, where currents can carry them thousands of miles across the world.

This is why it’s important to consider a plastic recycling service.

Yes, but with huge caveats.

Most clothes are a mixture of fibres; even a 100% cotton t-shirt is likely to have a washing label made from satin or plastic, while the thread for the seams could be polyester. This creates issues with separating streams, as any other fibres are effectively contaminants.

Only around 1% of old clothes become new garments. Instead, most are either incinerated or end up in landfill. Furthermore, the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, and one-fifth of global wastewater.

It is. In fact, it’s probably easier to tell you which metals aren’t recyclable.

Lead is the most obvious example, with many household WEEE items such as TVs and computer monitors, containing it. However, recyclers remove any lead components before processing the rest of the item.

Mercury is less common, but is extremely hazardous, and is the reason you can’t recycle thermometers. Energy-saving lightbulbs contain small amounts of mercury, too, but most local authorities have the technology to recover the other components.

It’s unlikely you’ll have any dangerous radioactive products around the home (save for trace amounts in smoke detectors and bananas!), but needless to say, the likes of plutonium and uranium are not yet recyclable.

In 2018, the UK recycled just 1 in 400 coffee cups. That figure is improving all the time, though.

The difficulty comes from disposable cups needing to be both heatproof and leakproof, so they are usually made from card with a plastic lining. This mixture of materials makes them very difficult to recycle, so most local councils won’t accept them for kerbside collection.

The largest coffee shop chains all have recycling schemes for customers to return their used cups, and while compostable coffee cups are becoming more commonplace, they still aren’t the norm yet.

DMR is ‘Dry Mixed Recycling.’

While it’s easier for carriers if customers segregate different waste streams before collection, that may not always be practical. So, DMR may contain glass, card, plastic, etc., that is free from contamination by food, garden clippings or other ‘wet’ waste.

Clinical waste is a term for waste generated by medical procedures, whether human or veterinary.

This includes:

• Needles, syringes and other sharps
• Swabs, bandages and other dressings
• Human and animal tissue, blood or fluids
• Lab samples, specimens and cultures

Related to this is ‘offensive waste’, which includes PPE that hasn’t been in contact with infectious patients.

Hazardous waste is refuse that is potentially dangerous to human health or the local environment.

This includes:

• Fridges, freezers, TVs and other WEEE appliances
• Batteries
• Asbestos
• Chemicals
• Lamps
• Pesticides
• Solvents
• Gas bottles
• Non-edible oils
• Hazardous waste containers

Businesses have a duty of care to ensure that any hazardous waste they generate causes no harm, while waste carriers, consignees and exporters must deal safely with any waste they receive.

As non-hazardous waste rarely poses any immediate danger to human health, hazardous waste has much more stringent regulations.

Businesses must store hazardous waste safely and keep accurate records of any potentially dangerous substances. Similarly, waste carriers have more paperwork to file and keep on record.

Offensive waste is non-infectious, but perhaps to due smells, bodily fluids or appearance may be unpleasant to dispose of. It can come from both medical and general environments, such as:

• Sanitary products
• Nappies and incontinence pads
• Sterile lab waste
• PPE which hasn’t been in contact with infectious patients

Anything infectious is classed a clinical waste.

Yes! Almost all paper is recyclable. There are some exceptions, such as foil-lined or glittery wrapping paper, but everything from books and magazines to newspapers and envelopes is eligible for recycling.

Once in the recycling loop, workers grade the wastepaper according to quality, before cleaning it in soapy water to remove any staples, ink or glue, etc. Depending on the type of paper product being manufactured, the plant adds different materials to this slurry, which is then dried out, rolled up, cut to size and delivered.

It is. As with paper, almost all card – from greeting cards to cardboard – is recyclable.

Once again, anything with a metallic finish is best left for your general waste bin, as are greasy takeaway boxes. The paper and card recycling process uses cold rather than hot water, so any oily residue is much trickier to break down and clogs the machinery.

That said, you can partially recycle those if the lid is uncontaminated. As recycled card uses around 75% fewer resources than manufacturing from virgin pulp, it’s well worth doing.

Yes. Glass is an infinitely recyclable material, meaning that no matter how many times it enters the recycling loop, recycling plants can always revive it as a brand new product.

This is best illustrated with glass bottles and jars. Machines crush them into a fine crumb called cullet, before melting it down in a furnace. The subsequent liquid glass is moulded into shape, and as with other recycled goods, they use significantly less raw materials to make.

WEEE waste is Waste Electronic and Electrical waste. These are items including everything from household appliances and IT equipment to medical equipment and tools. Fridges, monitors, TVs, air conditioning units and many more common items are WEEE waste. Normally, if it has a plug, it is likely to fall under the WEEE regulations and require a non-general waste disposal route.

Dependent on the chemicals your WEEE contains, it could be hazardous, and professional advice to ensure you correctly dispose of these items is essential.

If mismanaged, WEEE waste may cause a great deal of harm to human health and the environment. Not only this, but it is also unlawful to not dispose of it in a compliant manner.

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive governs WEEE waste. This is the European Community Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment that, together with the RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU, became European Law in February 2003. It placed WEEE into ten categories, with the aim of recycling at least 85% of WEEE by 2016. This came into UK law in 2005.

Under the Hazardous Waste Regulations (2005), the penalties for not managing waste correctly include heavy fines and imprisonment. So, having a clear plan in place for managing WEEE waste removes the risk of fires, fines or legal proceedings.

Using the correct containers to store WEEE waste, obtaining the right paperwork and using a licensed waste carrier are all ways to ensure compliant disposal of WEEE waste.

If you can compost it, it counts as green waste.

This includes:

• Garden cuttings, including most weeds
• Fruit and vegetables
• Egg shells
• Coffee grounds and tea bags (although it’s best to rip those open and empty out the leaves)
• Animal hair
• Shredded paper

One exception to this is Japanese knotweed. A vigorous, invasive plant species, composting doesn’t destroy its rhizomes, and any compost contaminated with it you spread on your garden will probably see a fresh outbreak.

Meat and fish products are also not compostable.

Fresh Start puts its considerable experience and know-how at the disposal of every customer to ensure they receive the very best service at all times.

Service

From the moment that we answer your first call, you can rely on us to deliver the results you expect.

Relationship

We do what is best, not what is easiest. We are transparent, honest and consistent, taking pride in our work and adopting a professional approach to it at all times.

Commitment

We do what we promise. And part of that is doing what it takes to help your company achieve its objectives. Regular account reviews help keep us on track.

One of the best ways to reduce the amount of money your company spends fulfilling its waste obligations and responsibilities is to hire an expert.

As part of our planning, we focus attention on how best to meet your needs while avoiding frequent emptying or collection of containers.

There are a several factors that can affect the cost of waste disposal. That is why we encourage you to invite us to conduct a free, no-obligation audit of your operation so that we can tailor a quote that matches the services we provide and your individual requirements. Of course, the more there is, the higher the price is likely to be.

The frequency of collection counts, too.

The type of waste can influence the price too. For example, hazardous materials that are processed separately usually incur a charge.

Collecting from more than one branch of a company will also be more expensive.

Yes.

Our list of customers includes businesses of all sizes, and from a range of sectors across the North West. The purpose of a comprehensive audit, before starting any service, is to identify how a company can reduce its waste impact by reusing and recycling.

That personalised approach is entirely flexible, and is designed to accommodate an increase in the number of bins or collections should your circumstances change.

Absolutely.

As mentioned above, the information gathered during a site audit allows us to recommend the most suitable solution, matching your needs to the best containers and an appropriate collection schedule.

Our modern wagons – environment-friendly and capable of handling multiple waste streams – help to make our visits as efficient as possible. However, we are flexible.
If that means decreasing the number of times we visit, or altering the number of containers that you have on site, then we’re happy to adjust.

The lift rate is a fee that waste management companies like Fresh Start charge commercial customers for collecting their rubbish.

The price quoted for every time we empty a bin is the ‘lift rate.’ All waste containers, no matter their size, will have a waste weight limit per lift.

A bin rental charge is the price a company pays to hire a waste container.

We have both short and long-term options, and we promise that the fee we quote is the one that’s paid – no hidden charges.

We are happy to pick up and deliver bins to suit a customer’s schedule, and our aim is to recycle as much as possible of the material we take away in order to minimise its impact on the environment.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of ways you can cut down on your waste.

Here are 10 simple changes you can make today:

• Invest in a reusable water bottle instead of buying single-use plastic ones
• Re-use glass jars instead of recycling them
• Compost your food waste
• Shop using tote bags instead of plastic ones
• Use re-useable bamboo toothbrushes
• Donate unwanted items to charity shops
• Look inside your bins; if there’s a lot of something you can probably cut down on it or swap it for a similar item with less packaging
• Cut down on what you buy online; more deliveries = more packaging
• Keep a waste diary, writing down everything you throw away
• Register with MPS Online to reduce the amount of junk mail you receive.

This is a tax applied to all waste that is disposed of by landfill. The weight of the discarded materials corresponds with the price of the levy. Landfill operators pay the tax and pass the cost on to businesses and local councils on top of normal landfill fees. Landfill fees and the landfill tax also have VAT added.

The duty of care is the list of responsibilities a company has to make sure everyone is safe. Businesses are responsible for transferring their waste to a certified carrier to deal with it correctly.

A waste transfer note (WTN) or Duty of Care (DOC) is a document that details the transfer of waste from one person (or business) to another. Any business that produces, handles or disposes of waste has a legal obligation to hold a Waste Transfer Note under Duty of Care legislation.

You will have a weight allowance as we want to keep our drivers safe when moving your waste around. If a bin is too heavy, it could injure them. The weight allowance is the total mass of waste you can put into your bin – the figure is on your Duty of Care document. If you exceed this amount, you will be subject to excess charges.

Our waste audits mean you should usually be well within your weight limits. We believe it’s important that each client has a good idea of how much the removal of their waste will cost each billing cycle.

Equipped with dynamic waste weighing systems, our collection wagons measure exactly how heavy your waste is. This means there are no estimates, with each invoice showing a precise figure.

Closed loop recycling is when waste is collected, processed, and turned into the same product once again.

Glass, aluminium cans, and some types of plastic are all examples of items that are recyclable multiple times over showing no sign of degradation.

It’s possible to recycle paper numerous times, but its strands will become too weak, eventually. So, what may start out as high-quality magazine paper, may have a life cycle which takes it through wrapping paper > printer paper > newspaper > tissue paper, before it needs to go in the general waste bin.

Although all food waste is recyclable, it isn’t a closed loop. You can’t take an old lasagne and make it into a new one; it will probably enter the anaerobic digestion process instead and come out the other end as biofuel.

Training is the first and most obvious step, especially in the food and leisure industries.

Having one area for bins in an office can be helpful, too. While it means staff may have to forego small bins at their desks, they can easily stream waste at a recycling point instead.

Yes. Waste customers usually sign rolling fixed-term contracts, which are automatically renewed unless cancelled. The conditions of each carrier’s agreements are different, of course, but there will be a notice period if you do choose to join another firm.

It should just be a case of stating your intention to leave at the end of your existing contract, and signing up with a different provider. No doubt your existing waste contractor will try to keep your business, but ultimately, the choice is yours. Make sure you check the small print for how long you need to give notice.

An exception could be if your waste collectors have broken their contract with you – not emptying your bins, for instance – but we would always suggest seeking legal advice first.

The waste hierarchy is a concept introduced by the government to show the various stages of waste management options. Is goes:

• Prevention
• Preparing for reuse
• Recycling
• Other Recovery
• Disposal

You can find much more information on gov.uk. The best option for the environment is to attempt to move the waste your business produces up the hierarchy and ultimately prevent waste being produced in the first place.

If your business doesn’t already have one, then yes, it probably does.

At its most basic level, a waste management strategy assesses the most suitable type of bins for your needs and how often we collect them. However, they also suggest ways on how you can cut down on the amount of refuse you produce, potentially saving you money on your Landfill Tax bill.

It’s huge. We don’t have to gaze too far into the past for when recycling was almost unheard of.

In harder times, families certainly had a make-do-and-mend attitude that saw many more objects being repurposed than now. Actual recycling, though, has only seriously taken off in the past twenty years or so.

Most people recycle to at least some extent these days, despite it often being seen as unnecessary before the turn of the millennium.

This is the primary goal for all waste reduction schemes. We need to change societal attitudes to waste, just as we did to dropping litter.

Food waste is an obvious first port of call. Estimates vary, but the UK throws away somewhere between 5-10 million tonnes of food each year.

The problem isn’t just on the shoulders of the population, of course. Corporations have a responsibility to change their ways. Packaging is a huge issue, and while companies are changing their ways, there’s still a lot of progress to be made.

To a degree, yes.

Supporting local suppliers also supports local jobs.

Most objects are recyclable in one way or another; however, it isn’t practical to recycle absolutely everything. Polystyrene, for instance, is 100% recyclable, but with the existing technology we’d need to collect it in colossal proportions to make it commercially viable.

At your end, though, the process is simple. Put all glass in your glass or DMR bin, all food in your food bin, etc. We’ll do the rest.

Anaerobic digestion is an environment-friendly and cost-effective way of dealing with some types of waste.

Rather than burn it, or send it to landfill, plants with anaerobic digestion capability can convert that waste into renewable energy, whether that’s electricity, biofuel, or fresh compost. Anaerobic digestion is a natural process by which bacteria break down biodegradable material, like food scraps, into a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide with some water as a by-product.

Fresh Start has nurtured a reputation as a regional innovator in commercial food waste collection. We have campaigned tirelessly for less food to be sent to landfill, in turn reducing the volume of damaging gases being released into the atmosphere.

Autoclaving is a method of waste processing that uses a combination of heat, steam and pressure. It is a reliable way to deal with biohazards or infectious waste. For instance, that generated by a hospital or laboratory, because it sterilises or decontaminates media without a reagent.

The autoclaving process works on an understanding that the boiling point of water increases when it is under pressure. Steam can find its way in to small crevices and deactivate fungi, bacteria, spores, viruses and other microorganisms.

After the autoclave treatment process, waste is compactible and goes to landfill or a waste-to-energy facility. Since it is noninfectious, it is safe to dispose of alongside other regular rubbish.

Waste-to-energy (WtE) plants destroy rubbish that would otherwise go to landfill.

They burn waste at high temperatures to create fuel, gas, or steam that drives a turbine. This generates electricity that goes into the national grid network or used locally.

All waste-to-energy plants follow the same basic steps:

• A reception area to receive waste and get it ready for combustion
• Thermal treatment – the process that releases the energy from the waste
• Conversion to a transportable form of energy, for example electricity, heat or fuel
• Emissions clean-up to ensure any waste gases are safe

Using waste isn’t recyclable into another energy source is one way to reduce the amount sent to landfill.

Known as refuse derived fuel (RDF), it goes to energy-from-waste plants where it is typically incinerated to generate heat and electricity. Often shipped overseas and leaving a significant carbon footprint, RDF isn’t always a favourable solution.

Refuse derived fuel comes from domestic, business and industrial waste, which includes biodegradable material and some plastics. Non-combustible items, like glass or metals, are removed first and the residual rubbish shredded before being baled.

Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) is a renewable energy source, reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, and diverting some previously unrecyclable waste away from landfill. In theory, all your waste could become RDF. Food waste becomes biogas via the anaerobic digestion process, while we may convert other refuse into electricity at a waste-to-energy incinerator.

Kerbside collection schemes operated by local authorities in England, which take ‘dry’ recyclables such as paper, food and drink cans, glass bottles and jars, transfer items to a materials recovery facility (MRF).

There, they are separated by a combination of automatic and manual sorting methods. They are then baled before being transferred to places like paper mills or plastics recycling plants, where they are made into new products.

The MRF in Manchester, at Longley Lane, can process up to 90,000 tonnes of waste material each year.

Fresh Start’s disposal service fully complies with all the relevant regulations.

We provide a waste transfer note for all handovers of non-hazardous material between two parties, to prove that you have opted to hire a specialist waste disposal company.

We strive to embody our green credentials at every opportunity, and we will sort through the items you put in a skip and reuse or recycle as much as possible.

This depends on the type of waste you generate. Glass, for instance, is an infinitely recyclable resource, and could return as a new bottle, insulating glass wool, or even fibre optic cables. Read more about the history of glass recycling.

Our food collections often transform into biofuel; our partners may recycle old wood into pallets; while metal, paper and many types of plastic also find a new lease of life. Unfortunately, not everything is recyclable yet, and even after sorting, a small amount of general waste ends up in landfill.

Decomposing materials emit harmful gasses into the atmosphere and leach chemicals into the ground. By their very nature, they are hazardous places, and the more waste we can divert from them the better. Some waste products can take centuries to break down, and we need to avoid this where possible.

Commercially, too, sending waste to landfill is expensive.

Yes. Carbon dioxide may be the primary greenhouse gas, accounting for more than three-quarters of their total, but methane is up to 25 times more potent. Landfill gas (LFG) is an even split between these two components, and although it is a natural by-product of waste breaking down, it is also thoroughly toxic.

Ours certainly are!

Fresh Start’s fleet is among the greenest in the sector, and we will continue to invest in our vehicles to ensure they have the lowest environmental impact possible. Our Mercedes-Benz Econic wagons can lift bins and containers while the engine ticks over, making for quieter collections that also save up to 15 per cent on fuel and any subsequent emissions.

And we haven’t stopped there.

We are committed to processing the waste we collect, whether that’s recycling or diverted from landfill to one of our energy-from-waste (EfW) partners, at locations close to our base in the North West of England.

That means it travels shorter distances, reducing the carbon impact of trucks on the road.

Fresh Start prides itself on being a ‘carbon conscious’ operation, demonstrated by our pledge to carry out sustainable waste collections.

For example, we continue to invest in fuel-efficient vehicles and use technology to plan routes that minimise their carbon output. We also conduct an annual audit to check we have reduced our impact on the environment as much as possible.

It is important to practise what we preach, and by adopting a ‘carbon conscious’ approach to decision-making, we can boost confidence among our customers that we will always attempt to devise the most sustainable waste management solution for their business.

Carbon capture involves different technologies combining to prevent carbon dioxide produced by factories and power plants from reaching the atmosphere and contributing to global warming.

That could include trapping carbon emissions in filters fitted to chimneys before redirecting it to locations where it can be used or stored.

One reason carbon capture is necessary is because of the challenges – difficulty and cost – that would need to be overcome to adapt heavy industry so it runs on cleaner energy. In 2020, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said it was urgent to develop technologies that effectively capture and store carbon emissions if the world wanted to meet its climate targets.

Decomposing materials emit harmful gasses into the atmosphere and leach chemicals into the ground. By their very nature, they are hazardous places, and the more waste we can divert from them the better. Some waste products can take centuries to break down, and we need to avoid this where possible.

Commercially, too, sending waste to landfill is expensive.

Yes. Carbon dioxide may be the primary greenhouse gas, accounting for more than three-quarters of their total, but methane is up to 25 times more potent. Landfill gas (LFG) is an even split between these two components, and although it is a natural by-product of waste breaking down, it is also thoroughly toxic.

Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) is a renewable energy source, reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, and diverting some previously unrecyclable waste away from landfill.

In theory, all your waste could become RDF. Food waste becomes biogas via the anaerobic digestion process, while we may convert other refuse into electricity at a waste-to-energy incinerator.

There are two primary routes for plastics to find their way into the sea. Around half of it comes from boats, including waste from the shipping and fishing industries, and even cruise liners to a lesser degree.

Much of the rest originates onshore. Because so much plastic refuse is lightweight, it blows away easily. Even if the wind doesn’t carry it straight into the ocean, it can float through lakes and rivers. Micro-plastics are even easier to transport via our waterways, where currents can carry them thousands of miles across the world.

This is why it’s important to consider a plastic recycling service.

The waste hierarchy is a concept introduced by the government to show the various stages of waste management options. It goes:

• Prevention
• Preparing for reuse
• Recycling
• Other Recovery
• Disposal

You can find much more information on gov.uk. The best option for the environment is to attempt to move the waste your business produces up the hierarchy and ultimately prevent waste being produced in the first place.

In theory, yes, and a whole Zero Waste movement has sprung up around the idea.

The reality for almost all businesses, though, is that zero waste is a noble but impractical target. We hope the technology will exist one day to make everything recyclable – and commercially viable to do so. In the meantime, we pledge to divert as much waste away from landfill as is possible.

A Waste Carriers License is for businesses which deal in the transport of waste.

As well as waste carriers, this also includes:

• Waste brokers (companies that arrange for others to buy, sell, or dispose of waste)
• Waste dealers (companies that buy, sell, or dispose of waste)

There are upper and lower tiers, depending on how you generate waste.

Licences last for three years, and those carrying waste without one are liable for fines of up to £5,000.

Based in Bristol, but with offices throughout the UK, the Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental body sponsored by DEFRA. Unlike DEFRA, it focuses solely on environmental improvements, including promoting biodiversity and coordinating flood defence programs.

DEFRA is the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.

Its remit is to safeguard the UK’s natural environment, support farming, and promote the rural economy.

COSHH is the law governing the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health.

As its name suggests, it sets out regulations for businesses dealing with potentially dangerous substances, including:

• Chemicals and products containing them
• Dusts
• Fumes, Gases, Vapours and Mists
• Biological Agents
• Nanotechnology

This covers a huge number of industries, from hairdressers to offshore oil, and it’s vital that your business complies with COSHH’s guidance. For more in-depth information, please see the HSE website.

Separate measures are in place for lead, asbestos, and radioactive substances.

The duty of care is the list of responsibilities a company has to make sure everyone is safe. Businesses are responsible for transferring their waste to a certified carrier to deal with it correctly.

A waste transfer note (WTN) or Duty of Care (DOC) is a document that details the transfer of waste from one person (or business) to another. Any business that produces, handles or disposes of waste has a legal obligation to hold a Waste Transfer Note under Duty of Care legislation.

No, and it’s illegal to do so. All rubbish from a workplace is classed a trade waste and you must dispose of it as such. This includes taking it to your local tip, which is just for household waste.